The Singing Sword

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The Singing Sword is a work of fiction, but the historical background against which the action of the story takes place is very real, and the major political events occurred as described herein. As we approach the turn of a new century, few of us understand much of what went on at the birth of the twentieth. The story of The Singing Sword is set at the turn of the fifth century — fifteen hundred years ago — and most people have no idea at all what life could have been like in those days.

Some circumstances, occurrences, words and expressions in the narrative will be unfamiliar to modern readers. As the author, I could have changed or "modernized" all of these, but I have opted often to retain them in the interest of authenticity. Measurements, for example, were not as precise then as ours are now: seconds and minutes, inches and yards, were unknown to the Romans. They spoke in terms of heartbeats and moments, handspans and paces. A Roman mile was a thousand (mille) paces long, slightly less than a modern kilometre.

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